Page 61 of Virgin's Stolen Nights with the Boss

‘Yes. She didn’t even seem startled when she saw me.’

‘Did she say anything?’

‘No.’ Carmen shook her head. ‘She just gave me this strange smile—I don’t even know if itwasa smile, or just a smug expression...like she’d won something.’

Oh, Elias knew that kind of black smile. He had been the recipient of it many times from Joel’s widow, Seraphina. But to get it from your own mother...

He might not be one for sharing plates, or holding hands in public, but in this instance, Elias made an exception.

He reached over and took her hands across the table. ‘I get it.’

‘Believe me, you don’t.’

Elias didn’t correct her. He knew she was partially right—because he didn’t know her family, or all that had gone on.

‘You didn’t tell your father you’d seen her?’

Carmen shook her head. ‘Nor my brothers. Though maybe I should have. Perhaps they were long-time lovers...’ She rolled her eyes. ‘If they were, it will all come out in court. Maybe I should tell them, so they are prepared for it?’

‘Well, given you’re so vocal to them about their wives,’ he teased gently, ‘why don’t you?’

‘Can we not talk about this any more, please?’ Carmen said abruptly, and removed her hands.

Elias knew that that encounter with her mother was what had really hurt her.

It was the reason that this incredible, open, confident, beautiful young woman had closed off a part of herself.

Usually Elias resisted deep conversations like this, because they created expectations that he had no intention of meeting.

But, Elias acknowledged, there was a responsibility that came with what had happened last night, and he’d felt her pain when she’d sobbed in his arms on the pier.

There was something about Carmen that meant he couldn’t just walk away.

Elias signalled the waiter for the bill.

Carmen instantly regretted breaking contact.

If she could have done it without him noticing, she would honestly have just slipped her hands back between his, but it was far too late.

‘I guess that’s why I went into the psychic’s tent,’ Carmen said, unsure if she was trying to resurrect the conversation or just not wanting their time together to end. ‘I wanted answers.’

‘We don’t always get them, Carmen.’

His voice startled her, hauling her out of her introspection. And as she looked over at him she saw again the man she’d first met at that awards night. Not the terse man who’d refused a drink from her tray, nor even the man who’d stood on stage and talked about grief, desperately needing a distraction so he could compose himself. She saw the man who had leaned against the wall of the venue, staring out into the night...

And Carmen wished—how she wished—that they’d still been holding hands. Because the husk in his tone told her that he might need it more than she did.

CHAPTER TWELVE

VENICEBEACHWASINCREDIBLE.They walked along the vibrant boardwalk and onto the sand, wandering far enough away that the crowds thinned out.

Then they sat watching the roaring waves and the huge jets in the sky.

‘That will be me in a few weeks,’ Carmen said wistfully.

‘Are you looking forward to going back?’

‘Yes,’ Carmen said. ‘And no.’

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